Dish-cover



(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 1.

J. R. ROBERTS.

DISH COVER. No. 346,386. Patented July 27, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheebs-Sheet 2.

J. R. ROBERTS.

DISH COVER.- No. 346,386. Patented July 27, 1886.

\X/HZFIEEEES I vg t @,@IZ/WM% MM @JPMWM" UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JOHL It. ROBERTS, OF YOUNGSTOlVN, OHIO.

DISH-COVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 346,386, dated July 27, 1886.

Serial No. 184,685. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN R. ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dish-Covers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide for household uses a convenient utensil to protect the contents and covers of vessels the mouths of which cannot be rigidly closed, as in the case of a bread-sponge vessel, and for use also in every case where the covering must not be allowed to impinge upon the thing protected. This I accomplish by an extensible skeleton cover to support a spread, which cover is formed of wire, as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are plan views of my cover, one in the contracted and one in the extended form. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of variations of the same, and Figs. 5 and 6 are views of my cover applied to dishes.

The cover as shown at Figs. 1 and 2 consists of two identical parts formed and united as follows: A piece of wire of suitable length and thickness is bent so that the central part represents three sides of a rectangle, from the corners of the open side of which it extends in two arms at an angle of forty-five degrees, being slightly inclined downward to raise the central part of the cover above the level of the vessels edge, as is shown at Fig. 6, and being also bent sharply downward at the ends for projections over the edge of the vessel to secure the cover in place thereon. The two identical parts a a thus formed are then brought together, the sides of the rectangles in contact, but with the arms extending in opposite direct-ions, and are united by the ferrules or short cylinders 11 b, which surround the wires of both, one upon each of the two opposite inclosed sides of the rectangles.

It will be readily comprehended that this skeleton cover can be extended or contracted by pushing together or separating to a greater distance the sides of the rectangles opposite the openings, so that vessels of greatly vary ing sizes may be spanned by the same cover.

The variation shown at Figs. 3 and 4 is the same as above described, except that additional bendiugs of the wire form a second rectangle with long horizontal and short perpendicular sides. The object of this variatidn is to increase the snpporting-surface of the cover, useful only for very large covers, because it more effectually prevents the spread from bagging downward.

Other configurations may be formed by other bendings of the wire, all of which I include as within the spirit of my invention whenever combined with the configuration of the parts first described.

It is obvious that the angle and curvature of the arms maybe greatly varied, or the arms may be without curvature, and still in a manner accomplish the object intended, and I therefore do not limit myself to the descriptions given in these respects.

In manufacturing this cover I prefer coppered wire, because less liable to corrosion; but any wire may be used. The bending is rapidly done over forms, the ferrules being put in place before the arms are turned to an angle.

In addition to the uses already indicated, my cover-protector serves useful purposes as rests for sad-irons, tea and cotfee pots, pans containing heated water, rests to separate ice from the material to be cooled, 81c.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As a new article of manufacture, the cover-protector formed of the two similar parts a, each consisting of a wire bent at the middle portion to form three sides of a rectangle, the ends of the wire being bent outwardly at the open side and terminating in an abrupt downward bend, the two parts being united, with the open sides of the rectangles opposite each other and secured by the ferrules b, which encircle the two parallel wires and permit them to slide on each other, substantially as described.

2. As a new article of manufacture, the means of the ferrulesb,each of which encircles [O cover-protector formed of the two similarparts the two wires, substantially as described. a, each consisting of a wire bent at the middle In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my portion to form the open-ended rectangle, wilth l signature in the presence of two witnesses. a handle at its closed end, and having tie ends of the wires bent outwardly at the open JOHN ROBERTS side and terminating in an abrupt downward Witnesses: bend, the two parts being united with their WV. T. GIBSON, parallel closed sides secured together by GEO. O. HATCH. 

